Not a Fan of Wintergirls....

so that is why I was so late in reading this one even though I had heard really good things, but I am glad I did and I really did like Shout.  I like poetry and the message here is really important.  It is raw and honest and I did cry.  And I think that all young women and young men and old women and old men should read it.  And I am glad that Anderson has raised her voice.  There is just something about her writing that doesn't "5 Star" for me...and that is probably me, yes, I am sure it is.  But I will recommend this for sure. 

Just a wee bit long

I liked Stolen Things.  It sucked me in right away.  But the thing was, I really didn't like the characters.  I liked JoJo okay....but the mom?  Na...and Harper?  I tried to feel for her, I really did.  I don't know...this was just kinda died for me.  Good premise.  But maybe needed a little editing? 

While

I didn't love or even really like like like Heather, The Totality I am glad that I didn't read the goodreads reviews.  I don't generally let them impact my decision to read a book, but these were so bad.  And the book wasn't THAT bad.  I mean I think that one has to look at the bigger picture and think about it, you know?  I mean as I think about the characters a little.  It is written by Matthew Weiner who is one of the guys behind Mad Men and The Sopranos.  I can see this being a movie so that makes total sense!

Why?

I know there is no point in asking why we do horrible things to one another.  Human nature is prone to such horrors.  Ones that sicken us.  Horrors done to groups of people, horrors done to individuals.  The essays in Not That Bad:  Dispatches from Rape Culture show this to be true with each account.  It is edited by the incomparable Roxane Gay. 

I don't know how to comment on these stories.  Some of the writers say that they don't want to be called "brave" or a "survivor" and some don't want to hear that people are "sorry for what happened" but some do.  I want to respect that.  I want to just give to them as much respect as I can.  So all I can say is that I am very thankful for their words and willingness to share.  I simply want to offer to them all that is within me and that my heart and soul can give, as respectfully as I can.  I absolutely recommend this book.  

David Levithan and Roxane Gay

I think that David Levithan would enjoy parts of Hunger:  A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay.  He would probably be very happy with the reports of the prejudice and pain that a person of size has endured. 
Last week I heard him interviewed on MashReads he was talking about his book Every Day and the fact that it is becoming a movie.  Oh, actually it is a movie!  I didn't hear much about it, but that doesn't mean anything!  I am not very aware of pop culture! 
Anyway.  It was interesting because he did bring up the issue of being accused of fat shaming.  But it was amazing to me how he dismissed it.  Not so much that he denied it, as he did when he had a Facebook messaging conversation with me when the book came out, but that he played it off as a big misunderstanding and that he wasn't doing that and blah blah.  But then as we have seen in his writing, he does the same thing in the next book. 
But I don't want to make this all about David Levithan.  I just want to recommend it to him.
Maybe he will learn something.
This is an incredible book.  I heard an interview with Roxane Gay and I know she doesn't want people to be all like "she gets me" and all of that mushy stuff and I respect that, but man, I did relate to this book.  And I hope that is okay. 
I know that Ms. Gay doesn't want or need the respect and praise and good feelings of a no one like me.  But man, she has it.  I know that my opinion of her intelligence and bravery don't matter, but man, I just want to say to anyone who is thinking about reading this book-- please read it.  It is very powerful and very wow.  And yeah, I do think that Ms. Gay is brave and brilliant and has written an incredible book here.  And I know that my thanks won't ever be read by her but I am just putting it out there.  As someone who was once 338 lbs is now 121 but may very well be 338lbs or 38lbs or 538lbs one day, I really resonated with this book. 
I don't love food, like Ms. Gay says she does, though.  I hate food.  I hate that I want it and need it and use it.  I am working on it.  But that is neither here nor there.  This is just a fantastic book. 

Monsters Among Us

I really, really loved Saints and Misfits.  I loved the way in which it was a story in which Janna's faith was and wasn't the focus of the book.  I mean, it wasn't preachy.  It wasn't gimmicky.  It was the story of a girl who happened to be Muslim and her faith is important, but also it wasn't ALL that she was.  It wasn't a "Token Muslim" book.  Nor was it a story in which her faith was down-played.  It was just so really well done, you know?  S.K. Ali also does an excellent job of making Janna more than the "Girl Who is Sexually Assaulted."  Just a great, great, really well done book. 

Toughie

Panic was a toughie.  There was a LOT going on here.  It was tough, tough.  It reminded me of Sharon Flake's Bang! Just hard, hard, hard.  It would be an excellent movie, I think.  I loved the way Diamond's dance friends were a true family.  This can happen.  I mean, it does happen.  Girl abducted by sly-talking creep.  My mom and I were listening to it together and I knew the guy was bad news but she didn't.  I am not going to let her alone in the mall!   Good, good, hard book.

Here it the Thing

When I read the reviews for Into White I was worried about reading the book.  There were some people who really slammed this book and said it was racist and it the characters were all race-focused and on and on and on.  But the thing was, the folks who said that were all white.  And frankly, it is pretty easy for someone who is white to say that "race should be a big deal."  White people are always ready to say that racism is the past, that Affirmative Action isn't necessary.  White people are just that-- what's the world?  Ignorant? Clueless?
Racist.
That's probably the best word, even if it is painful.
An excellent book.  Convicting.  Excellent.

Not since

Girls like Us have I read a book about people with exceptional abilities, as good as A Step Toward Falling.  Basically I have no idea how to word that sentence.  All I am saying is that I really liked this book and it has been a long time (since Girls Like Us) that I have read a book about people who just happen to have exceptional abilities that was this good!
So, yeah!  I loved all of the characters and even though the book was on the longer side, which you know is a problem for me, I didn't lose interest at all or think that it was getting too long!  It is told in 2 parts and deals with some tough stuff.  Great, great book.  Cammie McGovern also wrote Say What You Will, which I read recently and also loved!

Guard Each One's Dignity and Save Each One's Pride

They'll Know We are Christians By Our Love is one of my most favorite songs.  If I had to pick a song that I try to live by and that I think would be a good one to describe the Christian life, it would be this one.  That is because of the lines, "and we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride."  I just think that is what we need to focus on, in all times.  Missoula:  Rape and the Justice System in a College Town might not be the book that one thinks of when one is reminded of this song, but it should be.  Now Missoula isn't a church, it isn't "Christian" in name or in claim.  And I don't even know if any of the people who are written about in this book are Christians, but they are all God's children.  And we all have a responsibility to guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride.  And we all have a right to be treated with dignity and respect.  That didn't seem to happen in Missoula in these cases.  A very eye-opening book.  It didn't give me an iffy/icky feeling like Three Cups of Deceit.  It just made me very sad/mad/shocked to hear how often sexual assault and rape occur and how cases were handled in Missoula and that this wasn't really all that rare.  The other thing is, how the Missoula situation was tied into sports.  I am just not a sports person, so this was very hard to understand and reminded me of the Penn State horror, in which sports came first.  Sickening.

Hang in There...

I say that to the characters in book, as most of them probably have thought that giving up and going Home was the best thing, and also to readers of I Crawl Through It.
I read some reviews in which the reader said they just couldn't finish the book.  And I completely understand.
I started it and read a book in between and thought about not going back to it, but I am really glad I did.
A.S. King is an incredible writer.  And I am the first to call someone pretentious!  (Terrible, terrible, but sadly, that is true.) but I don't agree with others who have said that King's writing here is pretentious.  I really don't.  I think that she really is just that smart.  She really is just that creative.  She really does care that much about telling the stories of teens who have experienced trauma.
Make no mistake, this IS an odd book.
It is more surreal than magical realism, but it is well worth reading.
Check out the book trailer, too.

Toughie

This was a tough book.  It was a hard book.  A sad book.  And it was almost like Almost Perfect, one I couldn't finish because it was just so sad and hard and tough.  I really like Sara Zarr's books and so I stayed with this one, but I had to listen to it backward!  Just to make sure the end wasn't just a devastating mess.  I wasn't worried it would be a cheesy, "all's well that ends well" deal, and knowing Zarr's other books like I do, I probably should have realized that this would be just a disaster book, designed just to play on emotions, but I really came to care so much about the characters that I just couldn't not know that hope would still be alive, even if on life-support.
Great, great book.